Cow suffers labour trauma, activists cry foul

People in Thoraipakkam area were in for a  rude shock early on Monday morning when they spotted a cow walking around in their locality with the head of a calf protruding out of its back.

The cow, evidently in agony, had no owner in sight and apparently had no assistance either, said an eyewitness. S Karthik, a B Com student who resided in the nearby Kandanchavdi area, said, “I saw the cow as early as six in the morning.” He added, “It was in a vacant construction site on the road and was in a lot of pain.”

With no sign of the owner coming to the rescue of the struggling animal till evening, the Blue Cross of India was called in by the residents. “This isn’t the first time that an owner had abandoned his cattle in pregnancy,” said Dawn Williams, General Manager of Blue Cross.

The animal reportedly struggled for over an hour and a half to be delivered of the calf, till medical help arrived. “But we were not able to save the newborn male calf,” revealed Williams.

“It’s head was bloated and it was already dead when we got there.”

Asked about the reason for the frequency of such cases and veterinarian Priyadarshini Govind responded, “It is the oldest case of negligence in the book.” She explained, “It’s quite common for a cattle owner to artificially inseminate a cow for milk and then leave the calf to die.” This happened especially in the case of a male calf, she elaborated, as there was no lactation possibility.

Other animal rights activists indicated that a complaint would be lodged with the Animal Welfare Board of India, which had now been taken over by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Blue Cross officials said that a complaint had been filed against the owner for negligence (IPC 289) at J9 Police Station in Thoraipakkam. Incidentally, once the episode was over, Williams said that he received a phone call late on Monday evening from one one Kalyani (65), a resident of Perungudi, who claimed ownership of the animal.

A police official at Thoraipakkam confirmed that the complaint was received and that an investigation would follow.

For the time being, the cow would remain in the custody of the Blue Cross at the animal welfare institution’s Velachery premises.